Most nonprofit websites fail a basic accessibility test, and most of the fixes are small. In the 2026 WebAIM Million study of one million home pages, 95.9% had detectable accessibility failures.
A donor who cannot read your button cannot give. A donor who uses a screen reader and cannot find your donation form cannot give either. That is lost income and lost trust.
This post gives you a 10-minute check you can run today, plus the 6 fixes that solve most problems.
What the rules say today
The standard to aim for is WCAG 2.1 Level AA. The rules around it depend on where you work and how you are funded.
- US nonprofits that serve the public (ADA Title III). There is no official technical standard for private organizations, but courts treat WCAG 2.1 AA as the benchmark. Plaintiffs filed 3,117 federal website accessibility lawsuits in 2025, up 27% from 2024. Nonprofits are not exempt from ADA lawsuits.
- US nonprofits tied to government (ADA Title II). The DOJ rule requires state and local governments to meet WCAG 2.1 AA. In April 2026, DOJ moved the deadline for large entities to April 26, 2027. If you run a program for a government body, ask your contact if the rule reaches your site.
- EU. The European Accessibility Act has applied since 28 June 2025 to businesses that sell covered services to consumers. Charities are generally not directly affected, but a paid shop or paid service on your site may change that.
This is general information, not legal advice. If you receive a demand letter, speak with a lawyer.
The 10-minute accessibility check
Run these 8 steps on your home page and your donation page. Use a laptop and a phone.
- Tab test (2 minutes). Click the page, then press the Tab key. Can you reach every link, button and form field? Can you see where you are on the page? Can you finish a donation without a mouse?
- Zoom test (1 minute). Zoom the browser to 200%. Text should stay readable and nothing should be cut off.
- Contrast test (2 minutes). Paste your text and background colors into the WebAIM Contrast Checker. Normal text needs a ratio of at least 4.5 to 1.
- Image test (1 minute). Each photo that carries meaning needs a short description, called alt text. Your logo and your donation button image need one too.
- Form test (1 minute). Every donation field needs a visible label above or beside it. A hint inside the box that disappears is not a label.
- Link test (1 minute). Links should say where they go. “Give a monthly gift” works. “Click here” does not.
- Scan test (1 minute). Run a free scanner such as WAVE or Lighthouse in Chrome. Scanners find some problems, not all, so keep the steps above.
- Phone test (1 minute). Open your donation page on a phone. Can you tap each button without zooming?
Write down every step that failed. That list is your fix list.
The 6 most common problems and how to fix them
The same 6 failures show up year after year. The shares below come from the 2026 WebAIM Million report, and they are the share of home pages with each problem.
| Problem | Share of home pages | How to fix it |
|---|---|---|
| Low contrast text | 83.9% | Darken your text or lighten the background until the ratio is 4.5 to 1 or higher. |
| Missing alt text on images | 53.1% | Add a short description to each meaningful photo. Leave decorative images empty. |
| Missing form labels | 51% | Add a visible label to every donation and sign-up field. |
| Empty links | 46.3% | Give every icon link a name, such as “Facebook”. |
| Empty buttons | 30.6% | Give every button text or an accessible name, such as “Donate”. |
| Missing page language | 13.5% | Set the page language to English in your site settings. |
Start with the first three. They are the most common and the cheapest to fix, so they give you the biggest gain for the least work.
Want a second pair of eyes on your site? Book Your Free Discovery Call and we will review your home page and donation page with you.